The FAA’s proposed new rule on drone use would ban their deployment out of the user’s line of sight, a restriction opposed by Amazon.com.
Photograph: Niall Carson/PA

Amazon.com, the Federal Aviation Administration and privacy activists sparred in front of Congress on Wednesday over drones and the future of American airspace as one privacy expert warned few laws would stand in the way of “a nightmare scenario for civil liberties”.

The subject before the Full House committee on oversight and government Reform was a proposed rule by the FAA, which would permit commercial drone use in a variety of ways (at the discretion of the agency, which would issue licenses).

The hearing was silent on the topic of drone use by law enforcement. The agency was, though, very concerned about unauthorized filming of football games, pointing to its No Drone Zone PSA campaign as a marked success.

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The limitations of the licenses would hurt Amazon, the company’s vice-president of global public policy, Paul Misener, told Congress. Misener said his company was actively working to make drone delivery a reality and that the rule’s restriction on operating drones out of the user’s line of sight would hamper progress. “Our respectful disagreement with the FAA is that we believe that kind of operation can be considered right now,” he said.

Harley Geiger of the Center for Democracy and Technology warned the assembled legislators that they must heed privacy concerns before making the skies free for drones.

“Here is a nightmare scenario for civil liberties: a network of law enforcement UAS [unmanned aircraft systems] with sensors capable of identifying and tracking individuals monitors populated outdoor areas on a constant, pervasive basis for generalized public safety purposes. At the same time, commercial UAS platforms record footage of virtually anyone who steps out of her home, even if the individual remains on private property. This may seem an unlikely future to some. However, few existing laws would stand in the way, and the public does not yet trust the discretion of government or the UAS industry to prevent such scenarios from approaching reality,” he said.

The FAA’s rules would keep drones below 500 feet and away from airports, both of which appeared to be reasonable restrictions to everyone assembled, but there were concerns on various logistical questions. Washington DC representative Tammy Duckworth said that as an aviator she was worried about crowding the skies – in a small plane, she said, “even a small UAS hitting the side of my aircraft will take me out. Even a small bird will take me out.”

Pressed on the point by Eleanor Holmes Norton, Misener said: “Oh, it’s in the works, Ms Norton.” Misener admitted that self-piloting tech was not ready to deploy that afternoon, but said the technology would be ready by the time the rule was passed.

The committee directed most of its questions to Misener and the deputy administrator of the FAA, Michael Whitaker, who said the rule would be passed within a year, and that the questions before the FAA now were largely logistical, particularly with respect to new tech that recalls drones that lose their way. “As that technology is being tested, we have to develop standards for operation, particularly in the radio communications spectrum and how that gets defined.”

Kentucky congressman Thomas Massie quizzed Geiger on whether or not there was an appropriate “floor” for drones below which they were trespassing on personal property. Geiger said that if there was, that floor would probably get lower and lower as case law worked out exactly where it lay. “We’re talking about a ceiling of 500 feet – what about a floor? Do you own air an inch above your lawn?” Massie asked.

“From a personal property aspect, when are your property rights being violated? An inch above your property? Yeah, you probably own that,” Geiger said. “Thirty feet above your property? We’re not sure. What counts as reasonable as more and more UAS fill the sky – in tens and hundreds of thousands, which is what we predict in the coming decades - what counts as reasonable will probably shrink.”

Massie had his own suggestion: “Maybe the floor is the range of a 12-gauge with number six shot in it.”